The Effects of Knowledge About Subject Matter on the Performance and Attitudes of Prospective Teachers.

Waimon, Morton D.; And Others

It was hypothesized that 1) prospective teachers who have been trained in microplanning will score higher on tests of teacher effectiveness and 2) will not change their attitudes about pupils and teaching in an undesirable direction. Subjects were 20 secondary school social studies majors, 10 who volunteered to take an experimental teacher education sequence (three 2-semester-hour courses titled Microplanning, Microteaching, and Clinical Teaching) and a control group of 10 taking the regular 6-semester-hour sequence. After the treatment, experimental group Ss were matched to control group Ss (on sex, class, cumulative GPA, and hours credit) and all Ss were given the same statement of objectives and unit booklet and randomly assigned five to ten high school pupils. They planned and taught four half-hour lessons to their pupils who were then administered a two-part test measuring recall of information and ability to reason using the material covered. The mean pupil scores for each S, computed for each part of the test, constituted the criterion measure of teacher effectiveness. The Minnesota Teacher Attitude Inventory (MTAI) and the Sorenson Teacher Role Preference Inventory (TRPI) were administered to the experimental group as pre-posttest along with a course evaluation questionnaire. Results of analysis of variance tests supported the hypotheses. (Brief description of microplanning competencies and procedures plus a sample lesson plan are included.) (JS)